The head of Sudan’s army, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has revealed that he is willing to talk to the commander of rebel forces, the Rapid Support Forces whom he has been battling for control of the country since April of this year.
In an interview with the BBC, he said that he was ready in principle to sit down with Mr. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The two factions have been fighting a fierce internal war which the United Nations (UN) says has left more than 5,000 people dead and more than five million displaced.
General Burhan who seized power in a coup in 2021 heads the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and is on a global diplomatic tour seeking international support and some legitimacy for his leadership, despite his failure to hand over power to civilian authorities.
The general denied allegations of his forces targeting civilians despite the UN and some charities saying there is evidence that his forces are launching indiscriminate air strikes on residential areas. He said he was confident of victory, but admitted he had been forced to relocate his headquarters to Port Sudan because the fighting in the capital Khartoum had made it impossible for the government to continue.
In response to this statement, Gen al-Burhan has also in a video message, assured that he would sit down with General Dagalo for political talks as long as he abided by commitments to protect civilians, made by both sides during talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in May.
He added that if the leadership of these mutinous forces has the desire to return to its senses and pull its troops out of the residential areas and return to its barracks, then we will sit with any of them noting that whenever he commits to what was agreed in Jeddah, we will sit to resolve this problem.
Gen Dagalo reiterated that “Sudan will remain united, a state intact, not a failed state. We don’t want what happened in the other countries you mentioned. The Sudanese people are now united behind one cause, ending this mutiny peacefully or by combat”.
He is confident of defeating the Rapid Support Forces but admitted the fighting had forced him out of the capital.
“In Khartoum, diplomatic missions, the ministries and all government organs cannot carry out their duties as normal because it is a war zone, there are snipers and military operations taking place. That is why no entity can now work in Khartoum,” he said.
There is widespread evidence that civilians in Sudan are dying in indiscriminate air strikes carried out by Gen Burhan’s forces in residential areas, particularly in Khartoum but the general denied civilians were being deliberately targeted.
He referred to these allegations as fabrications of some stories by the rebel forces, who bomb civilians and film it as if it were the armed forces.
“We are professional forces, who work with precision and select our targets in areas where only the enemy is present. We don’t bomb civilians and we don’t target residential areas,” he added.
The situation in Sudan has led to the displacement and loss of many innocent lives. Both generals have talked about ceasefires before but so far that has not led to any lessening in the fighting.
The UN has said that neither warring party appears close to a decisive military victory.
Source: BBC AFRICA
